I am but a humble traveler, blessed beyond what I could ever ask for.

The Fountain of Four Rivers

Rome is surreal — with art, architecture and literature all converging and melding into one great historical and picturesque place. Like all other tourists, we had a list of places we wanted to see during our first visit in Rome. But not until we stood in front of this Bernini sculpture in Piazza Navona, La Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi — The Fountain of Four Rivers — completely accidentally and not even realizing it, that it hit me. There I was standing in front of a masterpiece: one that has been a subject of many other literary masterpieces years after he himself passed on, a testimony to the enduring legacy of his work. This, I realized, is the same thing with great civilizations. They leave behind their works of art, their philosophy, new ways of thinking that millennia after, new civilizations build on what they have started.